vitarka

2004-03-31T06:06:00.000-08:00

as marathon runners say, i have hit the wall. spring break kind of breaks the momentum - i'm starting to wonder if quarters aren't better than semesters...

abyhow - i'm debating whether EVERY activity needs grading - right now i'm doing a number of ungraded activities - that i feel are valuable practice - i suppose that as long as the class seems motivated in performing them, there is no need to worry about it. additionally, these activities are kind of practice for their graded work....any thoughts?

2004-03-10T16:58:00.000-08:00

goals for 2nd half:
reinforce professionalism
keep up variety in presentations and expand into other classes
more group work
consistent late policy

2004-03-10T13:22:00.000-08:00

here is what i wrote in january about what i wanted to accomplish - 1/2 way thru the term, i will assess my progress and later on post some new goals...

require assignments to be completed in a more "professional manner" - possibly have students turn in assignments in memo form - this will reinforce the skills they have learned in previous classes and will, i hope, cultivate a sense of professionality made some progress here, need to be more consistent and enforce more rigidly

a more consistent late policy. i have become convinced for, at least in my own circumstances, the need to be flexible with turning in assignments. i have found so many students benefit from this - not in terms of grades, but in learning. if a student doesn't "get" something immediately, too harsh of a late policy will cause them to blow off the assignment, or possibly drop the course. a diligent student who just gets a bit lost will take advantage of a flexible policy, do the assignment, really learn it and then move on. that being said - i need to be consistent to prevent abuse and provide some incentive for being on time - and to give a sense of professionality as far as deadlines need to improve

encourage student reflection. i will have a protfolio project in two of my 4 classes and must try to incorporate this into my other classes. have made the portfolio assignments as well as an extracredit blog in one of my classes - have to followup, review and give feedback - talk about more in class

vary lecture presentation - more activities, more group work, less "me"...it is tough for the ego to accept - but thinking about students learning instead of me teaching, means my job is to create a learning environment and not be the all knowing authority lecturing all the time. balance is the key i think here is where i have made the most progress - keep up the good work

allow for reworks. a big flaw in my classes (and most of the ones i've taken, prior to grad school) is that there is little opportunity for students to go back and correct their mistakes. so if a student gets something wrong, doesn't learn it, there is no opportunity or incentive to go back and redo it. i tried that this year with my midterms in several classes and it seemed to work well. in fact, one student re-did his final on his own - even though there was no benefit, gradewise. i have to think the re-do i allowed on the midterm planted the seed for this. imagine how good that made me feel.have not done this to any degree - encourage students to do it right - even if late - last term i started this with the midterm - perhaps i will this term as well

better assignments. more open ended. less spoon fed. more "project" type stuff ok - could be better - in 2 of the 4 classes students have a term project - so this gives them a chance to pull together

all in all made progress, but still a lot to learn - will post goals for rest of term after i think about it...

2004-03-04T16:56:00.000-08:00

my tai chi teacher is an excellent teacher. today, when showing us a form, he showed us how the movements coupld be used as self defense. this allowed us to see the moves in a context. it made the material so much clearer...

2004-02-19T16:42:00.000-08:00

this term, i have gotten annoyed with a student who has been consistenly rude in class. i haven't really made it obvious i am annoyed, but feel like perhaps my annoyance is showing to a degree. must develop a bit of a thicker skin and let stuff like this roll off me.

2004-02-18T11:33:00.000-08:00

i teach a multimedia class and we touch on powerpoint in a section about "instant" multimedia. i have tried to discuss the downside of the useage of powerpoint by discussing what edward tufte and others have said about it.

well, we moved on to discussing the system development process and i was a bit pressed for time in preparing for the class, so i pulled out a presentation i did about a year ago about the topic. i decided to kill two birds with one stone by a. showing the presentation as a way to reinforce the subject matter and b.) give the students a chance to critique the powerpoint presentation.

i think this worked out extremely well. the powerpoint presentation, i would describe as very average - nothing horrible, but nothing outstanding. the comments that some students gave were priceless though. one student desribed that when seeing this or any powerpoint presentation - regardless of how it is - she tends to glaze over and when an instructor simply talks and develops the ideas on a white board, she becomes more attentive and engaged - thinking about what is being said and processing the information. at least one other student reinforced that. powerpoint, a tool for sales presentations, seems to me to be at odds with the goals of a classroom. in a sales presentation, you don't want the audience to think; you want them to buy. by spoonfeeding and making a lecture look like a sales pitch, it seems, at least for some students, to turn them into passive observers as opposed to participants in the process; they are not thinking about what is being said, nor are they processing it. i rarely use powerpoint in class, and after this will use it less frequently still.

the same student told me that she had taken a class just in powerpoint and no one had ever mentioned any negatives about it until i did. i took that as a big compliment.

2004-02-16T07:18:00.000-08:00

content delivery in the 'blogosphere'

link from teachnology

note to self: read this article - it might help!

2004-02-09T09:41:00.000-08:00

i am giving my advanced web development class a chance to earn extra credit by keeping a blog - they must reflect upon their learning and post links related to web development with commentary.

an advantage of small classes is that it lends itself to experimentation. if i am going to look foolish with some new thing i want to try, at least i will embarass myself in front of only a handful of students. i feel good that i am comfortable enough in the day-to-day teaching activities that i can try some more innovative things.

2004-02-03T13:44:00.000-08:00

i have a different notion about teaching than when i started - in part - form the classes in education i have taken - both the material contained in those classes, nad the sincere pleasure of just being able to observe a few great teachers - and in part, from my own experience. teaching for me used to be figuring out how i could stand up in front of the class and give such wonderful explanations that students could not help but learn the material. teaching for me now, has become creating an environment in which students can learn. in some repects this means less "me" and more activities, discussion, peer-to-peer interaction and student reflection. i realized that i can't really "teach" the material; students have to "learn" it. my job is, to the best of my abilities, create an environment that will best foster learning for my students...

it's a horribly overused concept to talk of the "zen" or "tao" of this that or the other - but i think it's relevant here. the following verse from the tao te ching could be taken as advice for teachers:

When the Master governs, the people
are hardly aware that he exists.
Next best is a leader who is loved.
Next, one who is feared.
The worst is one who is despised.

If you don't trust the people,
you make them untrustworthy.

The Master doesn't talk, he acts.
When his work is done,
the people say, "Amazing:
we did it, all by ourselves!"

2004-01-30T12:38:00.000-08:00

2 weeks into the semester. perhaps it is a false secure feeling, but i think things are going great in 3 of my 4 classes. there seems to be genuine learning. i sometimes shudder to think what kind of a teacher i was when i first started; i feel i have learned so much.

the classes i think are going well are a blast to teach - reaffirming this as my calling.

the class i am iffy about is a tough nut to crack. there seems to be a wide range of abilities in the class. some who are already very familiar with much of the material; some who are very much novices. classes like these are the hardest for me to teach - cause i never know where to aim - high; low, or the middle? there really seems to be few in the middle, but i don't feel i have a read on this class. perhaps i can learn a lesson from my yoga teacher and offer the more experienced students a few little "extra" things to keep them challenged, while the rest of the class can focus on the basics.

i sometimes forget that THESE are the challenges i face now as a teacher. these are very different than the problems i faced in my previous career. in my prior job, a problem was some technical issue to crack. now, my problems are in terms of how to reach the most students - communication issues. many of my colleagues have higher degrees in their fields, which is fine - but at a community college, it seems that students are better served by teaching experts than subject matter experts. i am glad my grad work (in progress) is in education. i am confident that with my work experience and background, even without an advanced degree, i can handle any technical issue with which i am faced on this job. my goal is to reach that level of expertise in terms of teaching. and while i'm far from it, i think i am inching forward.

2004-01-27T08:50:00.000-08:00

oh yeah - another thing i love about teaching...
snow days!

2004-01-26T12:23:00.000-08:00

a revelation i have had re:teaching is that i don't need to "teach" everything. my lectures don't need to cover everything in the book. our time is better spent if i can focus on either the most important parts, the hardest parts or provide a new perspective to what is found in the book.

2004-01-19T17:52:00.000-08:00

tomorrow is the first day of classes. i was feeling real anxious earlier in the day - which for me is the norm. no matter how many times i have done this, the first day of classes is always a very anxious day for me. i realize it it silly, but i feel it none the less. i have heard other instructors say similar things - so perhaps it's normal. knowing others feel it helps. i have always had anxiety issues. in some respect, it's not all negative - kind of a gearing up. but sometimes it goes beyond that...

2004-01-16T12:52:00.000-08:00

as part of our development days, we had a presentation by dr. donald misch concerning emotions and learning.

it was a great presentation, of which, i am sure, my summary will not do justice. his main points included:

things are learned and remembered better when students form associations with the subject matter - the more associations the better. the more personal the associations the better
emotions effect memory and learning. it is easier to remember something charged with emotion
humor, when used subtly and sparingly can be an effective tool in generating interest and cultivating positive emotions about a class

much of his presentation reinforced what i learned last term in my ed psych class. the challenge, as always is figuring out how to apply this and make the techniques described my own...i think in some regards, my personality already has taken me in this direction. students have told me in feedback that my sense of humor creates a relaxed and warm atmosphere.

2004-01-13T07:52:00.000-08:00

a big challenge of teaching - like just about any field, i suppose - is getting the day-to-day stuff done while working towards improving. i mean, at the start of the term, i am very excited to be teaching new classes, and want to make changes to other classes, yet there are meetings to attend, mundane tasks, etc... that have to get done. i recall on one job, the difference was described as the urgent vs. the important. i suppose, like most things, balance is the key...

2004-01-11T10:13:00.000-08:00

one thing i planned to do between terms was reflect upon the last semester - what worked, what didn't... i feel i have made great strides teaching - sometimes i cringe at how i must have been as a part timer, or in my first term full time - and i still feel i have a lot to learn.

anyhow, here is what i want to keep in mind for this term...

require assignments to be completed in a more "professional manner" - possibly have students turn in assignments in memo form - this will reinforce the skills they have learned in previous classes and will, i hope, cultivate a sense of professionality

a more consistent late policy. i have become convinced for, at least in my own circumstances, the need to be flexible with turning in assignments. i have found so many students benefit from this - not in terms of grades, but in learning. if a student doesn't "get" something immediately, too harsh of a late policy will cause them to blow off the assignment, or possibly drop the course. a diligent student who just gets a bit lost will take advantage of a flexible policy, do the assignment, really learn it and then move on. that being said - i need to be consistent to prevent abuse and provide some incentive for being on time - and to give a sense of professionality as far as deadlines

encourage student reflection. i will have a protfolio project in two of my 4 classes and must try to incorporate this into my other classes.

vary lecture presentation - more activities, more group work, less "me"...it is tough for the ego to accept - but thinking about students learning instead of me teaching, means my job is to create a learning environment and not be the all knowing authority lecturing all the time. balance is the key

allow for reworks. a big flaw in my classes (and most of the ones i've taken, prior to grad school) is that there is little opportunity for students to go back and correct their mistakes. so if a student gets something wrong, doesn't learn it, there is no opportunity or incentive to go back and redo it. i tried that this year with my midterms in several classes and it seemed to work well. in fact, one student re-did his final on his own - even though there was no benefit, gradewise. i have to think the re-do i allowed on the midterm planted the seed for this. imagine how good that made me feel.

better assignments. more open ended. less spoon fed. more "project" type stuff

i hope by the act of writing this - and being able to go back and read this, it will cement these ideas and goals in my mind.

stay tuned - we'll see how this works...

2004-01-11T09:58:00.000-08:00

hello...
i teach computer science at a community college. i am also enrolled in a masters of educational technology program (a bit more than half way through). i have been teaching full time for two years. prior to that, i had been a software developer for close to 20 years, and did some part time teaching.

last year, i was involved in a project at my college to investigate electronic portfolios. being involved in that project, along with the educational psychology class, convinced me on the need for reflection upon ones learning. given that i still very much feel like i am learning about teaching, i have decided to document my "learning" in an online diary.

i plan on putting comments in, etc...if you want to reach me, i am available at mike_zellers [at] yahoo.com